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Monthly Archives: August 2011

On Sunday the time got away from me and it was dusk before I was driving home and realized I didn’t have a new place of the day. After a fair amount of indecisiveness I said to myself that I was using the next commercial building I saw! This small commercial building at 711 48th Street was the one! It was built in 1921 and as of 1931 was functioning as a grocery store.

Like this:

Edgework Climbing is tucked away in an unusual place at 6102 North 9th Street, Suite 200, Tacoma, WA 98406. It is in an newer industrial building, behind the Safeway on Sixth Avenue. I stopped in to pick up some information and was impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the woman behind the counter. She allowed me to walk around the cliffs and I loved that the floor was so bouncy! I could just envision myself climbing up those walls! If you know what you’re doing and have a certificate to prove it, the cost is $15 per day.

Like this:

On Friday we found ourselves in Everett with a little time on our hands. Not enough time to take the Boeing Tour, but enough to go check out the airfield near the Future of Flight Museum. There were several wonderful things about the experience. The day was lovely, warm and sunny. Mt. Baker was hoovering in the background. There were a bunch (30+) planes on the field. But best of all, I think, was the fact that the Boeing Co. was thoughtful enough to create berms that provide a view of the field. There were a bunch of people out checking out the planes, and many of them appeared to be fathers and their children. This is the kind of thing that memories are made out of!

We took an evening stroll today along the Thea Foss Waterway and I took this quick photo of the Dock Street Marina with the Murry Morgan Bridge in the background. The website for the marina says “Dock Street Marina is the leading all-weather metropolitan destination on the Puget Sound. Completed in 2005, Dock Street Marina was publicly commissioned to provide first class, year round quest and permanent moorage. Brand new concrete docks, marina support facility, and the ideal location make Dock Street Marina the leading destination marina on the Puget Sound.

In a moment of weakness I said yea, sure, you betcha’ to dear daughter getting another pet. We already have two dogs, cairn terriers and that breed is ratters. So, all of those rodent kind of pets seemed like a bad idea (mice, rats, etc.). Dear daughter is sadly allergic to cats and the reptiles seemed to want to eat live things. We ended up with two African Dwarf Frogs and they are kinda cute in a froggy way. We had already purchased the aquarium and set it up and today we got the frogs. We went to Petco at 4028 Tacoma Mall Blvd, Tacoma. And no, I don’t have a photo of our frogs here (eye roll), I’ll get one soon.

I wanted to pick up some information about Destiny Harbor Tours at 8829 North Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor. What I found out is that a two hour tour costs $27 for an adult, which I thought was pretty reasonable. They also offer memorial services, which sounds like a good way to say final respects. Their website is here: http://www.destinymarine.com/

It’s been one year since I’ve started this new place of the day project and I wanted to pick an extra nice new place. I was going to go to the Pacific Ocean, but it was just too darned rainy and cold, so instead I went to Pagoda in Chinese Reconciliation Park at 1741 N. Schuster Parkway, Tacoma. The pagoda is a gift from a gift from Fuzhou, one of Tacoma’s sister cities. Apparently there was some vandalism on the building in May 2011 and now perimeter fencing is in place until security cameras can be installed. The pagoda, called a ting, will be open to the public in mid-September. The park also contains the Bridge of Pearls footbridge, which is accessible.

Dear husband needed a mirror for his new to him electric bike and we went to Tacoma Bike at 309 Puyallup Ave, Tacoma. They advertise that they are the region’s largest full services bicycle shop and it is apparent. There are hundreds of bikes and all kinds of accessories. Their website is http://www.tacomabike.com/

I wanted to go to the Honey Bake Ham and Cafe at 2913 South 38th Street, Tacoma, WA 98409 before, but they close at 5:30 most days and I get there too late. But today I was there at lunchtime and it was open! We shared the Roast Beef Bravo sandwich, which was very tasty indeed. The tomato basil soup was also good. It seems that much of their business is catering. Maybe we’ll try getting a ham or turkey sometime soon.

As we dip into the second half of August, I find myself trying to squeeze in as much summer as possible before the rain and cool weather returns. Today dear daughter and I took the loop trail around the Chambers Bay Golf Course. The loop consists of two trails, the 1.25 mile Grandview Trail and the 2 mile Soundview Trail. The Grandview Trail is pretty much flat and looks out over over the Chambers Bay Golf Course and Bay. We were pretty happy to see a quick little Garter snake slipping through the grass on the upper level! The Soundview Trail is pretty level along the railroad tracks and water, but rather steep going up and down! Going counter clockwise, facing the bay, the Soundview Trail starts in a lovely forested area and then goes along the railroad track. Further on there are the remains of the industrial use of the property and then there is the open and extra steep hill going back up. Where the trails meet there is the clubhouse restaurant, where we had a lovely lunch before heading back to the car.